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The Department of Health and Social Care has issued a serious shortage protocol for Lipitor 20mg chewable tablets.

Earlier today the DHSC issued SSP013, which allows pharmacy teams to substitute one Avorstatin 20mg tablet for every Lipitor 20mg chewable tablet that has been originally prescribed.

The SSP is currently set to expire on January 12 but “may be amended or revoked at any time,” said the PSNC.

Pharmacists are required to read and comply with the requirements outlined within the SSP as published on the NHS BSA website.

If they consider that chewable Avorstatin tablets are not suitable for a patient, pharmacists must refer them back to their prescriber.

Contractors should endorse prescription forms or EPS tokens with ‘SSP 013’ to ensure they are paid correctly. Alternatively, they may use the existing ‘NCSO’ endorsement, which expires at the end of January after the end of a transition period.